Month: May 2006

The best conversations I have are the ones that take place with sales attendants in bookstores. It’s the one place I can go, mention a book, and people don’t look at me as if I am mad. Did I mention the fact that the best conversations I have are with female sales attendants at these bookstores? I should have because that might be the point of this blog, or totally pointless to any blog. Let’s see.

I think an average looking girl can appear much more attractive to me if she is smart. Not a smart aleck, but an intelligent female who looks good in tight jeans. Not straying from the topic, but when I say tight I don’t mean vulgar-tight but daintily tight. Yes, there is a distinction between the two levels of tightness, and I prefer level-one tightness – for jeans that is. Level-two does have its appeal, and it all boils down, or up, to personal taste. Some guys are blown away by level-two, and can even briefly lose consciousness on the first sighting. As someone once said, it all depends on how the package is wrapped. That last statement reeks of male sexism, but I first heard it from a liberated female with intense male bashing tendencies.

It would be impossible to write an essay on nonsense without mentioning Mr. James Bond from the UK. I, like much of the movie going population, am not a big fan of Mr. Bond or even his gadgets. Some women seem delighted by his gadget(s) but those would be the gadget minded females of our planet. I am however a big fan of the pseudo-intellectual Bond beauties, who are not afraid to reveal their true shape to PG audiences, and who only know English as a second or third language, if any language. These exotic and erotic beauties radiate a raw sexiness via various body parts, while cracking complex Russian codes, or hacking into Cray type supercomputers in order to save the world before the movie ends. Their reward is a night with the gadget-toting Mr. Bond, who remains calm while excitement lap dances the audience into a frenzy. These erotic beauties normally don’t go very far in the movie business, and usually end up as posters in the rooms of deprived men and boys. We (men and boys) envy Bond and his ability to charm the pants, or pull the bikini strings off most exotic beauties in full view of vivid imiginations.

Yes, I have strayed too much and I need to regroup, and try to remember what my point was. I think I remember. I am one of those guys who are turned on by a brain with a body (sexist statement). Failing the right mix of the two ingredients, then I will have to give in to instinct and go with the jeans, which wraps the body to perfection, or a skirt, which cleverly but clearly implies where the treasure is. I think this blog is probably nonsensical, and appears for no reason other than I started to type, and this is what popped out.

The worst devastation was in the town of Bantul, which accounted for three-quarters of the deaths. One man dug his 5-year-old daughter out of the rubble of her bedroom only to have her die in a hospital awaiting treatment with hundreds of others.

“Her last words were ‘Daddy, Daddy,'” said Poniran, who like many Indonesians uses only one name.

“I have to start my life from zero again.” said Poniran’s father.

Here is my question – Does it matter what was the nationality, color, race, or, God forbid, the religion of Poniran? And if so, why, and to whom.

You have reached that famous, but captivatingly handsome bloger, aka_lol, and I am either unable, or unwilling to take your call at this time. However, if you think you are important to me, please leave your name and number, along with that of an attractive female, at the beep, and I may get back to you if and when I see it fit to do so – you calling me doesn’t mean your call is important to me. However, if you are that attractive female, andhave a thing for blogers, please send proof via MMS. If I am impressed I will get back to you sooner than you think.

Long before men controlled their sticks and flicked their BICs, the Sun wasn’t the Sun but a lonely ball of highly flammable gas aimlessly floating around the Solar System, oblivious as to what Solar or flammable meant, or even to the benefits of rotating car tires. Since there was no Sun, the Earth was a dark and cold place, much like how it is today except happier. The gas ball was actually called “The Lonely Flammable Gas Ball” and not “The Sun,” contrary to what the history books and daily newspapers might have said at the time.

According to a budding grapevine, it all started one Sunday morning, at around noon. There was a certain bikini walking along a beach that night (since the day was yet to be invented), which triggered a heavy bout of stick rubbing on planet Earth. This walking bikini also caused friction to be developed between two sticks competing for the same flame. A spark, born out of this latest bout of wild and meaningless friction, grew fed up of the typical spark-life and managed a daring escape.

This aggravated spark bobbed and weaved across the Universe, skillfully avoided principles of physics, asteroids and film crews shooting yet another retroactive episode of Star Wars, and landed in, of all places, a no-smoking zone on the “The Lonely Flammable Gas Ball.” This caused what is now popularly know as The Spark and Gas Fiasco , aka: Here Comes The Sun. This created not only the sunrise, the daytime soap opera and the sunny-side-up egg, but also the need for sunglasses, sun block, tan lines, nude beaches, and daytime fragrances. It also caused nightclubs to have shorter opening hours and probably shorter skirts, which triggered pleasant daydreams, even at night. The rest is Solar System History and this blog.

With and estimated 1.3 billion dollars invested in Trinidad and Tobago, along with probably hundreds of thousands of skilled man-hours in planning and implementation, you would have expected Digicel to be blowing away the competition. This is not even close to happening if I am to judge by how empty their scores of stores (that rhymes) are and how so few people I know actually have a Digicel phone – I know of only one so far. I have a feeling Digicel expected to be successful simply because they thought people were unhappy with bmobile and liked free red tee shirts. For their investment sake, I hope this was not the case. “More customer service” is a good catch phrase but without customers it remains only a phrase.

My five experiences with Digicel were all bad since they seem to only be selling these scarce phones to friends. The Trini culture of “contact” to get anything might be the way these stores prefer to conduct business. I am sure the novelty of The Red has now worn off and I think Digicel has missed, not only the boat, but also the entire ocean. I, like many frustrated and fed up people, will not be begging Digicel to pay for a service anytime in the near future because customers don’t beg to pay when there is a competitor available, even if that competitor is bmobile. We are not that desperate. Any cell-phone company hoping to compete, and which cannot anticipate or cater for the public needs, must be headed for failure. A superior network is all well and good, but you need customers to use it, otherwise it would be like the proverbial tree falling in the woods with no one to hear it fall. Sadly, I have to say, being red now looks like being dead.

update (11-05-2006): If this were not true it would be very funny. I was told today that Digicel (or one of its franchise holders – same thing really) in Grand Bazaar now has phones but they cannot sell any. This amazing hi-tech company cannot do any activations because they have no paper and customer-hopefuls should return in a few hours. Yes, that’s correct, no paper is what I understand they are telling potential customers. When probed further the sales attendants are saying they have no paper to photocopy something or the other. I imagine Denis O’Brien would be pleased. So much for more customer service. All this from a company without a customer base and is proposing to be the leaders in the cellular market. That’s a joke. I would throw a big party if I were the folks at bmobile. Apparently the stupidity continues, only better than before.

update (15-05-2006): Today, on page 25 of the Guardian, Digicel has a 3/4 page advertisement saying their rate, until the 15th June, is now 3 cents a minute after the first three minutes. On page 26 of the Guardian, bmobile has a full-page ad saying their rate is now 25 cents a minute after the first three minutes. There is no cut-off date for the bmobile rate. These rates apply to Red to Red and Green to Green – you know what I mean.

I assume the war between the Red and the Green will continue until they both have achieved some level of stability. I am still without a Digicel phone and as tempting as the 3 cents offer is, I won’t do this at the expense of my customer-pride.

Aka decided to share his blog-life with the public so he once again agreed to having Mini…..conduct an interview. This is what never happened.

Mini: You have suddenly posted three blogs, four if you count this one. Why?

Aka: Four comes after three but before five, that’s why. If you meant why three blogs, or four if you count this one, then I would say it was an impulse.

Mini: Are you normally impulsive or not?

Aka: I am a blog-engineer; we are trained not to be impulsive in life and sometimes in blogging.

Mini: So that is what a blog-engineer is, a non-impulsive life-bloger.

Aka: Yes, and also irresistibly charming.

Mini: You definitely missed that boat. Anyway, I understand you recently received an email which went on and on about your frequent blog comments and your blogs.

Aka: That is true, and the email didn’t even come from a blogger, but a very good friend of a few years.

Mini: Were you offended by the email?

Aka: Not at all, she was in high praise of my comments and my blogs

Mini: Who is she? Never mind. Why do you comment so much Aka? Do you have too much time on your hands? Is it some type of mental illness? What?

Aka: Why so negative? My blog comments are my way of telling people I read what you wrote and I either understood what you said or didn’t. My comments might be my way of saying that people matter. People don’t blog to be ignored Mini, except for me perhaps, but I love being unnoticed, most of the time anyway.

Mini: That is strange, why do you like being unnoticed?

Aka: I am up at 4:30 am every morning by choice and my cell starts to ring at 5:30 am. It doesn’t stop until late in the evening, or at night on a bad day. People are constantly after my attention at work so that is why I sometimes enjoy being not noticed, even if only in blog form.

Aka: According to my friends I am one of those poor unfortunate fools who never managed to develop a proper vice except for blog commenting and photography.

Mini: That is sad.

Aka:I know, but on the other hand they say it is the vices which makes a man interesting, so that would account for me being on the other side of interesting.

Mini: What turns you on in women?

Aka: I was about to ask you the same thing but I doubt you would tell me. What I find attractive in women? That would be hard to say, other than the perennial pair of nice legs wrapped in a short skirt, nice brain, good sense of humor, hips that don’t stay still. There are too many variables in that equation which would give a good answer.

Mini: Very interesting answers. Aka, you seem to be happy, are you?

Aka: Yes and yes. I don’t want to elaborate but I am not a down or depressed type of person, except when I think about West Indies Cricket. I am enjoying my life everyday.

Mini: What’s next for Aka? Where is he headed?

Aka: I might beheading to Pt. Lisas today.

Mini: Very funny Aka, I mean where is your blog and your life headed?

Aka: My blog has a mind of it’s own so I don’t have to worry about that. As for my life, all I can say is that I don’t see any need to change course but I might just change my cellular provider and also upgrade my PC. I think I will start to read Stephen King’s The Gunslinger again or reread The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Douglas Adams was the best. I also need to make some website edits and call a friend in Colombia, they are three hours behind us so I will call around 9:00pm.

Mini: You and your Colombian fixation! Let’s move on. Do you think people will read this conversation?

aka_lol is an engineer by profession and by choice. As far as sports are concerned aka_lol supports the West Indies Cricket team - World Twenty20 Champions 2012.

Aka always says: "My creed is this: Happiness is the only good. The place to be happy is here. The time to be happy is now. The way to be happy is to help make others so" ~Charles J. Ingersoll~

aka quotes

Corruption is possibly nature’s way of leveling a playing field or building an airport. ~aka_lol

It is this continuous enrichment of the chosen minority which has angered all of us and if this blatant “thiefing” by the People’s Partnership is not stopped and remedied then the uneasiness will continue.~aka_lol

I hope this Government is able to understand what the writing on the wall is saying and it is not saying “thanks for all the box drains.” ~ aka_lol

The Police will not force the country to its knees even if it has the ability to do so on any morning they choose to go into self-service mode. ~aka_lol

Without condoms and common sense we don’t stand a chance ~ aka_lol

It can be said that sexiness is what celebrities start with and a book deal is what they end up as ~aka_lol

The Queen is Coming, No More Flooding!! ~aka_lol

We are more entertained by Commissions of Enquiries than troubled by them ~aka_lol

...stupid people need to be restrained before the country slips into that septic tank of no return ~ aka_lol

We are a population that wants to stop fighting with our elected Government and selected President and start worrying about how much of the Heritage Fund will be used for conferences and bribes ~aka_lol

A sex tape is now like a cell phone, everybody has one and some even have one with each service provider ~ aka_lol

Small minds victimize a lot ~ aka_lol

There is only one thing which a man can stick his finger in that feels better than sticking it in election ink on Election Day ~ aka_lol

What ever the truth is, a Kindle price should always be lower than the hardcover price because that is what Kindle buyers have come to expect and enjoy ~aka_lol

"We ordering pork for those who don’t eat beef." I said. That was when the screaming started ~aka_lol~

Governments like to claim they are transparent but like some underwear, never transparent enough to please the man in the street ~aka_lol~

Governments govern people therefore people must govern governments ~aka_lol~

...the Bandits Association have nothing against people making an honest dollar since it was the honest dollar from the man in the street that keeps their members happy and well fed ~aka_lol

About Engineers

An engineer is someone who is good with figures, but doesn't have the personality of an accountant.
- An Arts graduate's view of engineers-

An engineer is someone who washes his hands before going to the toilet.
- Anonymous-

There are three possible roads to ruin - women, gambling and technology. The most pleasant is with women, the quickest is with gambling, but the surest is with technology.
- Georges Pompidou -

Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If
your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them
down people's throats. - Howard Aiken, IBM engineer -

copyright

aka_lol thinks it should be obvoius that the original content of this blog is copyrighted by the owner, aka:aka_lol and may not be reproduced without permission. The content not created by aka_lol belongs to its owners. Maybe you are wondering who in their right mind will ever want to copy anything from this blog. I am wondering that as well, but having the right mind isn't as common as you may think.

Cool Quotes

"He who believes in freedom of the will has never loved and never hated."

Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

Each religion, so dear to those whose life it sanctifies, and fulfilling so necessary a function in the society that has adopted it, necessarily contradicts every other religion, and probably contradicts itself.

"You can't disprove the theory of God. The power of science is uncertainty. Everything is uncertain, but science can define that uncertainty. That's why science makes progress and religion doesn't."

~Lawrence Krauss~

"O Lord, I want to thank you that I was born in the West and not some other God-forsaken place, and that I was able to become a Christian by default. I'm thankful that I don't have to think hard about what I believe. I can accept without a second thought everything that's fed to me, and that I can support the status quo with a clear conscience without interrupting my comfortable way of life. You've made me what I am today without any effort on my part. I haven't had to think, question or change a thing, and for that I'm truly grateful."

~David Hayward~

As people become more intelligent they care less for preachers and more for teachers

~Robert G. Ingersoll~

Whenever we teach our children that groundless faith is a virtue, we pave the way for groundless violence

~Carrie Poppy~

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?

~Epicurus~

Nearly every American will know of more atheists at the end of 2011 than they do today, as coming out as an atheist becomes cool. Yes. Cool

~David Silverman~

I am proud to have been in a business that gives pleasure, creates beauty, and awakens our conscience, arouses compassion, and perhaps most importantly, gives millions a respite from our so violent world.

~Audrey Hepburn~

There is not enough love and goodness in the world to permit us to give any of it away to imaginary beings.

~Friedrich Nietzsch~

You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.

Mae West

One way to stop a runaway horse is to bet on him

~Jeffrey Bernard~

When you think about it, our politicians do play god, in the sense that they're not believed in by the vast majority of the public any more, they haven't done anything demonstrably useful for absolutely ages, and they keep employing members of their own family in influential positions. I'm not saying Jesus wasn't the best man for the job, I'm just saying it would have been nice if there had been a little more transparency in the recruitment process.

~Andy Zaltzman~

Organised religion is most concerned with self-preservation

~Adam Rutherford~

It's not God I worry about. It's the self-important, pompous, power-seeking old fossils who claim to speak for him

~Anonymous~

Grief is the price we pay for love.

~Queen Elizabeth II~

The problem with religion, because it's been sheltered from criticism, is that it allows people to believe en masse what only idiots or lunatics could believe in isolation

~Sam Harris

What is so unnerving about the candidacy of Sarah Palin is the degree to which she represents—and her supporters celebrate—the joyful marriage of confidence and ignorance . . . Ask yourself: how has "elitism" become a bad word in American politics? There is simply no other walk of life in which extraordinary talent and rigorous training are denigrated. We want elite pilots to fly our planes, elite troops to undertake our most critical missions, elite athletes to represent us in competition and elite scientists to devote the most productive years of their lives to curing our diseases. And yet, when it comes time to vest people with even greater responsibilities, we consider it a virtue to shun any and all standards of excellence. When it comes to choosing the people whose thoughts and actions will decide the fates of millions, then we suddenly want someone just like us, someone fit to have a beer with, someone down-to-earth—in fact, almost anyone, provided that he or she doesn't seem too intelligent or well educated.

~Sam Harris~

My creed is this: Happiness is the only good. The place to be happy is here. The time to be happy is now. The way to be happy is to help make others so.

~Charles J. Ingersoll~

There is no need for us to gather every day, or every seven days, or on any high and auspicious day, to proclaim our rectitude or to grovel and wallow in our unworthiness. We atheists do not require any priests, or any hierarchy above them, to police our doctrine.

No diet will remove all the fat from your body because the brain is entirely fat. Without a brain you might look good, but all you could do is run for public office

~ Covert Bailey~

Many of us saw religion as harmless nonsense. Beliefs might lack all supporting evidence but, we thought, if people needed a crutch for consolation, where's the harm? September 11th changed all that.

~Richard Dawkins~

Religion is ultimately dependent on belief in invisible beings, inaudible voices, intangible entities, undetectable forces, and events and judgements that happen after we die. It therefore has no reality check and it is therefore uniquely armored against criticism, questioning, and self-correction ~Greta Christina

I believe in the religion of reason - the gospel of this world; in the development of the mind, in the accumulation of intellectual wealth, to the end that man may free himself from superstitious fear, to the end that he may take advantage of the forces of nature to feed and clothe the world.

~Robert G. Ingersoll

Religion has nothing to do with morality, and is all about power fueled by superstition ~ Anonymous

The pleasure of hating, like a poisonous mineral, eats into the heart of religion, and turns it to rankling spleen and bigotry; it makes patriotism an excuse for carrying fire, pestilence, and famine into other lands: it leaves to virtue nothing but the spirit of censoriousness, and a narrow, jealous, inquisitorial watchfulness over the actions and motives of others. What have the different sects, creeds, doctrines in religion been but so many pretexts set up for men to wrangle, to quarrel, to tear one another in pieces about, like a target as a mark to shoot at?

~ William Hazlit – On the Pleasure of Hating

We have tried for over a thousand years, as a species, teaching people that killing people and holding others below yourself, and being indifferent to the suffering of others was wrong because God said so. I think we can firmly conclude that that strategy was a dismal failure. Instead, the zeal created by religious conviction has led people to hurt others in the name of God.

~ M. LeBlanc

If proselytisers had genuine faith they would at least tone down the proselytism. Surely the God they believe in has the power, hypothetically speaking, to move the hearts of unbelievers without their having to be argued, bribed, or bludgeoned into doctrinal submission first.

~ Barbara O'Brien

Inspired by the Pope's recent call to remember our country's Christian roots I was wondering which particular roots we should return to. Burning Protestants or hanging Roman Catholic priests? Requiring Dissenters to live 10 miles from the City of London, or Roman Catholics 5 miles? And if we decide to execute the Archbishop of Canterbury should we burn him like Cranmer or behead him like Laud?

~ Mark Francis

Coming out as an atheist can have serious real-world consequences. Parents get denied custody of their children for being atheists. People get harassed and vandalized by their neighbors for being atheists. Teachers get suspended for being atheists. Teenagers get harassed and suspended from school for being atheists. Politicians whip up anti-atheist fear to try to get elected. (And that’s just in the US. I’m not even talking about parts of the world where atheism is a crime, punishable by imprisonment or death.)

~ Greta Christina

Just in terms of allocation of time resources, religion is not very efficient. There's a lot more I could be doing on a Sunday morning

~ Bill Gates

Morality is not the monopoly of any faith: an atheist can be more ethical than a religious person. At the end of the day, what matters is that humans behave with consideration and decency, and avoid imposing their beliefs on others

~ Irfan Husain

The greatest intellectual framework that the human intellect has ever generated is the scientific method. On so many levels, it has freed us from the shackles of barbaric, divisive, and infantile superstition. Yet, all presidential candidates parade their faiths as though it were a virtue to believe in virgin births, burning bushes, and flying horses.

~Gad Saad

I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.

~Susan B. Anthony~

No opinion should be protected from criticism simply by virtue of being religiously held.

~Richard Dawkins~

A stupid man's report of what a clever man says can never be accurate, because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand.

~Bertrand Russell~

The major problem—one of the major problems, for there are several—one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them.To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it.To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.

~Douglas Adams~

The gods offer no rewards for intellect. There was never one yet that showed any interest in it.

~Mark Twain~

One can appreciate and treasure the symmetry and grandeur of the ancient Greek Parthenon without needing any share in the cults of Athena or Eleusis, or the imperatives of Athenian imperialism, just as one may listen to Mozart or admire Chartres and Durham without any nostalgia for feudalism, monarchism, and the sale of indulgences.

~Christopher Hitchens~

The president of the United States has claimed, on more than one occasion, to be in dialogue with God. If he said that he was talking to God through his hairdryer, this would precipitate a national emergency. I fail to see how the addition of a hairdryer makes the claim more ridiculous or offensive.

~Sam Harris~

We live, after all, in a world where illusions are sacred and truth profane.

~Tariq Ali

In fact, "atheism" is a term that should not even exist. No one ever needs to identify himself as a "non-astrologer" or a "non-alchemist." We do not have words for people who doubt that Elvis is still alive or that aliens have traversed the galaxy only to molest ranchers and their cattle. Atheism is nothing more than the noises reasonable people make in the presence of unjustified religious beliefs.

~Sam Harris~

It is taboo in our society to criticize a persons religious faith... these taboos are offensive, deeply unreasonable, but worse than that, they are getting people killed. This is really my concern. My concern is that our religions, the diversity of our religious doctrines, is going to get us killed. I'm worried that our religious discourse- our religious beliefs are ultimately incompatible with civilization.

~Sam Harris~

The first step is to measure whatever can be easily measured. This is O.K. as far as it goes. The second step is to disregard that which can’t be measured or give it an arbitrary quantitative value. This is artificial and misleading. The third step is to presume that what can’t be measured easily isn’t very important. This is blindness. The fourth step is to say that what can’t easily be measured doesn’t really exist. This is suicide.

~Daniel Yankelovich

The universe is 13.7 billion years old, the Earth 4.6 billion. A mere 2,000 years ago, at a time of great ignorance and superstition, some Middle Eastern men wrote some books. With respect, does it never strike you as absurd to use them as proof of a benevolent and watchful God?

~Anon~

A truly liberal society guarantees the freedom of all religions, but it accepts the tyranny of none. People must be free to live without threat or fear. To say the things, write the words and live the lives they choose. Does that offend some people? Yes, of course. But the price of freedom is the risk of offence. And, for me, that price is always worth paying.

~Ming Campbell~

Religions are, by definition, metaphors after all: God is a dream, a hope, a woman, an ironist, a father, a city, a house of many rooms, a watchmaker who left his prize chronometer in the desert, someone who loves you - even, perhaps, against all evidence, a celestial being whose only interest is to make sure your football team, army, business, or marriage thrives, prospers and triumphs over all opposition.

~Neil Gaiman~

When it comes to bullshit, big-time, major league bullshit, you have to stand in awe of the all-time champion of false promises and exaggerated claims, religion. No contest. No contest. Religion. Religion easily has the greatest bullshit story ever told. Think about it. Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time!

But He loves you. He loves you, and He needs money! He always needs money! He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow just can't handle money! Religion takes in billions of dollars, they pay no taxes, and they always need a little more. Now, you talk about a good bullshit story. Holy Shit!

~George Carlin~

Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company

~Mark Twain~

O Lord our God, help us tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with their little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it...

Seeing a murder on television... can help work off one's antagonisms. And if you haven't any antagonisms, the commercials will give you some.

~Alfred Hitchcock~

Since we are often told that god is ineffable and that it is impossible to know his mind it is quite astonishing the number of people that then proceed to tell you exactly what he thinks.

~Anon~

If there were in the world today any large number of people who desired their own happiness more than they desired the unhappiness of others, we could have paradise in a few years.

~Bertrand Russell~

Americans will put up with anything provided it doesn't block traffic.

~Dan Rather~

There's an infinite number of things that some people at one time or another have believed in, and an infinite number of things that nobody has believed in. If there's not the slightest reason to believe in any of those things, why bother? The onus is on somebody who says, I want to believe in God, Flying Spaghetti Monster, fairies, or whatever it is. It is not up to us to disprove it.

~Richard Dawkins~

Religion attacks us in our deepest integrity by saying we wouldn't be able to make a moral decision without it, and that a supernatural dictatorship is our only hope. That makes us all into serfs.

~Christopher Hitchens~

Thinkers of the Enlightenment, a set of new intellectual attitudes that remade Western culture in the 17th and 18th centuries, set out to understand the world and themselves through reason rather than religion. Their ideas led to massive advances in science, economics and commerce, the arts and human liberty, which underpin our present prosperity and social freedoms.

~Ayaan Hirsi Ali~

Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them.

~Bill Vaughan~

The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don't have to waste your time voting.

~Charles Bukowski~

The truth that makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear.

~Herbert Agar~

When evidence conflicts with cherished beliefs, most people are happier to explain away even the most compelling data rather than abandon their beliefs.

~Richard Wiseman~

If morality comes from religion, why is it normal for chimpanzees, all tribal peoples and non-believers to feel empathy for others, to practice fairness, and to remain loyal to relatives and friends?

~Anthony Layng~

A strongly held belief does not automatically deserve respect ~ConversationalAtheist.com~

A reluctance to accept the importance of reason is easy to explain. To ignore reason is to avoid a sense of personal responsibility, which makes it easy to explain everything that you see in terms of the tenets of your 'faith', be it religious, political or economic in origin.

~Robert Hall~

Religious fundamentalisms are not only found in every region and religion, but they are also becoming increasingly visible at the international level in, for example, the international human rights system.

~Cassandra Balchin~

I am as firmly convinced that religions do harm as I am that they are untrue.

~Bertrand Russell~

Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone.

~John Maynard Keynes~

My creed is this: Happiness is the only good. The place to be happy is here. The time to be happy is now. The way to be happy is to help make others so.

~Charles J. Ingersoll~

History: An account mostly false, of events mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers mostly knaves, and soldiers mostly fools.